The Advance Guard to Grimmauld Place
by EmonyDeborah
Summary: Helen is an excellent flyer, of course she was part of the guard the night Harry was taken from Privet Drive. Set in the beginning of OOTP, several sentences in the first half were taken directly from the book.


"And this is Helen Parr," Lupin said, gesturing to the witch closest to the door. She was tall and curvy, and had a bob of auburn hair, and she looked more somber than the others Lupin had introduced. She was definitely less interested in the muggle novelties surrounding her than the other witches and wizards. She gave him a small smile and a nod, and Harry returned the gesture.

He looked back at the others again, and blinked when he found them all staring at him. He wished they would look at something else, feeling like a bug under a microscope, and wondered why there were so many of them.

"A surprising number of people volunteered to come get you," Lupin said with a small smile, as though he had read Harry's mind.

"Yeah, well, the more the better," Mad-Eye said darkly. "We're your guard, Potter."

"We're just waiting for the signal that says it's safe to set off," Lupin said, glancing out the kitchen window.

"We've got about fifteen minutes," the witch named Helen Parr said from the door. Her voice was rougher and lower than he'd imagined. "You'd better go pack, Harry." Harry opened his mouth, he had so many questions to ask, but Helen Parr raised her eyebrows and pointed down the hall towards the stairs. Harry got the feeling that she had experience giving orders, and he closed his mouth and nodded.

"I'll come and help you," the witch with the purple hair, Tonks, said brightly. She followed Harry down the hall and up the stairs, looking around with great curiosity. "They're very clean, aren't they?" she said. "A bit too clean, you know what I mean? Bit unnatural." They entered Harry's room and he turned on the light. "Oh, this is better," Tonks said, looking around at the books strewn over the floor and the clothes spilling out of his trunk. Her gaze passed over Hedwig's cage, which he hadn't cleaned in days and was starting to smell, but she didn't say anything as Harry blushed and starting throwing things into his trunk.

Tonks stepped further into his room and started picking up books, but paused and examined her reflection in the mirror on the inside of his open wardrobe.

"You know, I don't think purple's really my color," she said thoughtfully, tugging at a lock of hair and turning her head in different directions. "D'you think it makes me look a bit peaky?"

"Er-" said Harry, looking at her over the top of _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland._

"Yeah it does," she said decisively. She screwed up her face in a strained expression as though she were struggling to figure out a complicated problem. A second later, her hair had turned bubble-gum pink.

"How did you do that?" said Harry, gaping at her as she opened her eyes.

"I'm a metamorphmagus," she said, patting her hair and smiling. "It means I can change my appearance at will," she explained when she saw his confused face in the mirror. "I'm better at faces than anything else, though. Helen can do this thing where she-"

"Helen Parr? Downstairs?" Harry asked, grabbing everything he could reach and dumping it in his trunk. "She's a metamorphmagus, too?" Tonks nodded, smiling brightly.

"We both got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great."

"You're an Auror?" Harry said, impressed. Being a Dark wizard catcher was the only career he'd ever considered after Hogwarts, though Mad-Eye's reputation as the best and most scarred had put him off a bit.

"Yeah," Tonks said, looking proud. "Kingsley is as well, and Helen used to be. Kingsley's a bit higher up than I am, though, I only qualified a year ago. Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking, I'm dead clumsy, did you hear me break that plate when we arrived downstairs?"

"Can you learn to be a metamorphmagus?" Harry asked, still thinking of scars and completely forgetting about packing. Tonks chuckled.

"Bet you wouldn't mind hiding that scar sometimes, eh?" She glanced at the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

"No, I wouldn't mind," Harry mumbled, and turned away to grab some socks from under his bed. Someone knocked on the door, and Harry jumped up, knocking his head on the bed frame before standing. He hadn't heard anyone coming up the stairs.

A hand was resting on the doorframe, and it drummed its fingers a few times before disappearing down the hall. Harry stared at the space where the hand had been for a moment before turning to Tonks in confusion.

"Right, packing," Tonks said guiltily. Harry blinked and bent down for more socks. "Don't be stupid, it'll be easier if I- _pack!"_ Tonks cried, waving her wand in a long, sweeping movement over the floor.

Harry's books, clothes, telescope, and scales zoomed out of the wardrobe and the corners of the room to pile into his trunk haphazardly. With another flick of Tonks's wand, the lid of the trunk snapped shut, hiding the jumbled mess inside.

"It's not very neat," Tonks said as the locks slid closed by themselves. "But it's all in. That could do with a bit a bit of cleaning, too- _Scourgify!"_ A few feathers and droppings vanished from the bottom of Hedwig's cage. "That was Helen, she's getting antsy, we should get going. You got everything? Cauldron? Broom? Wow! A _Firebolt?"_ Her eyes widened as they fell on Harry's broomstick, his pride and joy, a gift from Sirius.

"And I'm still riding a Comet Two Sixty," Tonks said enviously. "Ah well...you still got your wand? Okay, let's go. _Locomotor Trunk."_

Harry's trunk rose a few inches into the air. Tonks directed it out the door ahead of them, Hedwig's cage in her left hand. Harry followed her downstairs carrying his broomstick.

Back in the kitchen, Moody's eye was whirring in its socket, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sturgis Podmore were squinting at the buttons on the microwave and Hestia Jones was rummaging through the drawers. Helen Parr was still by the door, watching them with an air of exasperation, and Lupin was sealing a letter addressed to the Dursleys.

"Show off," Tonks said with a grin, walking towards Helen and setting the trunk down next to her. "You could have yelled for us." Helen didn't smile, but her lips twitched and her face got a little less stern.

"Excellent," said Lupin. "We've got about two minutes, I think. We should probably get out to the garden so we're ready. Harry, I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry-"

"They won't," said Harry.

"That you're safe-"

"That'll just depress them."

"-and that you'll see them next summer."

"Do I have to?" Lupin's only response was a small smile.

"Come here, boy," Moody said gruffly, beckoning Harry to him."I need to Disillusion you."

"You need to what?" Harry asked nervously.

"Hold on, Mad-Eye," Helen said sharply before Moody could answer. "Let him put his coat on, geez." Harry looked back at her then at Mad-Eye, who rolled his human eye. "Mad-Eye," she growled. "It's freezing up there." Mad-Eye huffed, then waved Harry off to the closet. Harry quickly retrieved a jacket and returned to Mad-Eye, who pointedly turned away from Helen's pursed lips and stony expression.

"Disillusionment charm," Mad-Eye explained, raising his wand. "Lupin says you've got an Invisibility Cloak, but it won't stay on while you're flying, this'll disguise you better. Here you go-" He rapped Harry on the head and Harry felt a curious sensation as though Mad-Eye had just smashed an egg there; cold trickles seemed to be running down his body.

"Nice one, Mad-Eye," Tonks said, peering at a point near Harry's midriff. Harry looked down at his body, which had taken on the exact color and texture of the wall behind him. He seemed to have become a human chameleon.

"Come on," said Moody, unlocking the back door with his wand. They all filed outside onto Uncle Vernon's beautifully kept lawn. Helen was last, she locked the door behind her. Elphias Doge and Emmeline Vance were waiting outside with the brooms, and everyone grabbed one before lining up around Harry.

"Clear night," Mad-Eye grunted, glaring up at the sky. "Could have done with a bit more cloud cover. Right, you," he barked at Harry, "we're going to be flying in close formation. Tonks'll be right in front of you, keep close on her tail. Parr'll be covering you from below. I'm going to be behind you. The rest'll be circling us. We don't break ranks for anything, got me? If one of us is killed-"

"How likely is that?" Harry asked apprehensively, but Moody ignored him.

"-the rest keep flying, don't stop, don't break ranks. If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you."

"Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously," Tonks deadpanned as she strapped Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage into a harness on her broom.

"I'm just telling the boy the plan," growled Moody. "Our job's to deliver him safely to headquarters and if we die in the attempt-"

"No one's going to die, Mad-Eye," Helen snapped, though her tense voice and white-knuckled grip on her broom weren't exactly reassuring. "This is why Violet has nightmares, you know."

Before Harry could ask who Violet was Lupin pointed into the sky and said sharply, "Mount your brooms, that's the first signal!" Far above them, a shower of bright red sparks flared among the stars, and Harry recognized them immediately as wand sparks. He swung his right leg over his broom as the others did the same around him, and felt the handle of his Firebolt vibrating slightly, as though it were as eager to get back into the air as he was.

"Second signal, let's go!" Lupin shouted, as more sparks, green this time, exploded above them.

Harry kicked off hard from the ground. The cool night air rushed through his hair as the neat square gardens fell away beneath him. He saw the others falling into position almost immediately and felt like his heart was going to explode with happiness; he was flying again as he hadn't in weeks, away from Privet Drive and the Dursleys.

"Muggle looking up!" Helen called from beneath him.

"Hard left, hard left!" shouted Moody. Tonks swerved and Harry followed her, glancing down to see Helen doing the same. "We need more height...Give it another quarter mile!"

Harry's eyes watered in the chill as they soared upward. The car headlights and street lamps below them were reduced to tiny pinpricks. Harry laughed down at them in pure joy, not caring that the wind stole his voice and carried it away. He saw Helen flying underneath him, even she was far away enough that she looked tiny.

"Bearing south!" shouted Mad-Eye. "Town ahead!"

They soared right, so that they did not pass directly over the glittering spiderweb of lights below.

"Bear southeast and keep climbing, there's some low cloud ahead we can lose ourselves in!" Mad-Eye shouted.

"We're not going through clouds!" Tonks shouted angrily. "We'll get soaked, Mad-Eye!" Harry was relieved to hear her say this, his hands were growing numb on his Firebolt's handle. As they went on, he was grateful Helen had made him put on a coat, the wind was getting uncomfortably chilly on his face.

Harry looked down in an effort to keep the wind from getting into his coat, and saw Helen again.

He could only see the back of her head and her red hair whipping in the wind, she appeared to be scanning the ground below. Every once in a while she would shout a warning about a helicopter or an airport, and they would change course in accordance with Mad-Eye's following instructions. Harry tried to help her look, attempting to distract himself from icy air that was starting to make his ears ache, but he never once spotted a potential problem before she did. He wondered briefly if she'd ever been a Seeker, before wondering how long they'd been flying, it felt like an hour at least.

"Turning southwest!" yelled Moody. "We want to avoid the motorway!" Harry was now so thoroughly chilled, even through his coat, that for a moment he thought longingly of the warm, dry interiors of the cars streaming by below them. Or Floo Powder, it was uncomfortable to spin around in fireplaces but at least it was warm.

"We ought to double back for a bit, just to make sure we're not being followed!" Moody shouted. Harry saw Helen's head snap up and twist around to glare at Moody.

"ARE YOU INSANE?" she yelled. "We're all frozen to our brooms!"

"If we keep going off course we're not going to get there until next week!" Tonks shouted from the front. "We're nearly there now!"

"Time to start the descent!" Helen yelled before Mad-Eye could argue.

"Follow Tonks, Harry!" came Lupin's voice. Harry followed Tonks into a dive, noticing that without looking up Helen kept an equal distance from his broom until she reached the ground.

They landed in the middle of a run-down looking block, across from a row of grimy houses. None of the houses looked particularly welcoming, several had broken windows and peeling paint, and bags of rotting rubbish were lying on the curb.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, but Lupin said quietly, "In a minute." Moody was rummaging in his cloak, his gnarled hands clumsy with cold.

"Got it," he muttered, and pulled out what appeared to be a silver cigarette lighter. He lifted it above his head and clicked it, and the nearest streetlight went out with a pop. He kept clicking until every light on the block was extinguished.

"Borrowed it from Dumbledore," Moody growled as he pocketed the device. "That takes care of any muggles looking out the windows, see? Now, come on, quick." He grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him across the street. Tonks and Lupin followed, carrying Harry's trunk between them. They'd passed off their brooms to other members of the guard, who were flanking them, their wands held out.

The muffled pounding of a stereo was coming from the upper window of the nearest house, and the overflowing garbage bins were letting off a truly awful smell.

"Take this and memorize," Mad-Eye said, shoving a piece of paper into Harry's Disillusioned hand, his magical eye swirling in all directions. Harry took the paper and squinted in the low light of the moon.

 _The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number 12, Grimmauld Place._

"What's the Order of-"

"Not here, Harry," Helen murmured from somewhere to his right.

"Wait until we're inside," Moody snarled, before snatching the paper and touching it with the tip of his wand, setting it aflame. As the message burned into ashes, Harry looked around at the houses again. They were standing in front of number eleven. To the left was number ten, to the right, however, was number thirteen.

"But where's-?"

"Think about what you just read," came Lupin's quiet voice. Harry obeyed, and no sooner had he gotten to the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place than a door appeared out of nowhere between number eleven and number thirteen. It was followed by dirty walls and grimy windows, it was like another house had inflated between eleven and thirteen, pushing them out of the way. Harry gaped at it. The stereo in number eleven thudded on, apparently the muggles inside hadn't felt anything.

"Come on, hurry," Moody growled, poking Harry in the back. Harry stared up at the house as he walked up the worn steps. Figures appeared in one of the fourth-floor windows, seemingly looking down at them. Harry glanced around and saw Helen wave up at them, and they disappeared from the window. Mad-Eye tapped the door with his wand, and after many metallic clicks it creaked open.

"Get in quickly, Harry," Lupin said. "But don't go too far and don't touch anything." Harry stepped over the threshold into almost total darkness. He looked over his shoulder to see the others filing in behind him, Tonks and Lupin carrying his trunk and Hedwig's cage. Moody was the last in, he turned back in the doorway and clicked the Put-Outer one more time. The light he had stolen flew back to the lamps, and for a moment the hall was illuminated before Moody shut the door, leaving them in total darkness.

Harry heard someone whisper something and old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered to life on the wall, casting a flickering light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway.

"Here," Moody growled, and rapped Harry on the head. He felt as though something hot was trickling down his back and knew the Disillusionment charm must have been lifted. He felt someone brush past him; Helen was walking further into the house and the others followed her, speaking in hushed tones.

Helen stopped at the foot of a staircase as the others went on past her. They heard bustling footsteps and Mrs. Weasley emerged from a door at the end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried toward them, but Harry noticed she was rather thinner and paler than when he had seen her last.

"Harry! It's so good to see you," she whispered as she pulled him into a rib-cracking hug, before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. "A bit peaky, you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner I'm afraid." She turned to the wizards gathered in the hallway. "He's only just arrived, the meeting's just started."

The wizards behind Harry all made noises of interest and excitement and filed past him.

"Mom!" Harry looked back at the staircase where Helen was still standing. Two people, a boy and a girl, were coming down the stairs as quickly as they could while making as little noise as possible. The boy was faster, he got to Helen first while the girl was slowed down by the toddler in her arms.

"How far did you fly? Did you see any airplanes? Did anyone fall off?" he asked rapidly, until Helen put a finger over his mouth and pulled him into a hug. Despite looking barely old enough to attend Hogwarts, he was nearly as tall as her, and his gelled blonde hair added perhaps an extra two inches.

"Keep your voice down, we don't want to wake anything up," Helen said in a low tone, laughter in her voice.

"Everything go okay, Mom?" The girl had reached the bottom of the stairs, her shining black hair swinging in her face. The toddler in her arms gurgled happily and reached for Helen, who kissed his forehead.

"Yeah, Vi," Helen said with a small, comforting smile, cupping her face with her palm. Vi relaxed and smiled, her relief evident. "I have to go to the meeting now, and we're staying for dinner." Vi and the boy nodded, and stood and watched as Helen followed the others into the door at the end of the hall. Harry moved to go after her, but Mrs. Weasley held him back.

"No, Harry, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Ron and Hermione are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meeting's over. And keep your voice down in the hall," she added in an urgent whisper.

"Why?"

"I'll explain later, I'm supposed to be at the meeting-Violet, Dash, could you show Harry where he'll be sleeping? It's Ron's room." Violet nodded, and after giving Harry another quick squeeze Mrs. Weasley hurried to the end of the hall and into the room, and shut the door behind her. Harry looked at the door for a second, then turned to his appointed guides, feeling awkward in the silence. He cleared his throat.

"Er…"

"I'm Dash," the tall boy said, sticking out his hand. "Come on, Ron's room is upstairs." He pulled Harry up a flight of stairs, Violet trailing along behind them, and steered him to a door on the right. "Here."

Harry reached for the doorknob, but something made him hesitate. It didn't look like Violet and Dash were going to follow him in; Violet had already passed the door and was waiting for Dash near the stairs to the next floor.

Ron and Hermione were on the other side of the door, their explanations, their answers to his questions. Harry remembered the tension in Violet's shoulders that hadn't been relieved until she'd known her mother was safe, after having possibly risked her life to bring him here. He let his hand fall and turned to Violet.

"I'm Harry," he said, holding out his hand, resisting the urge to smack his forehead. Of course she knew that, everyone seemed to, but she didn't laugh. She only adjusted her little brother so she could shake his hand, giving him a shy smile.

"I'm Violet. This is Jack-Jack," she said, nodding at the toddler, who waved.

"So, er, do you live here?" Harry asked, glancing around the walls. There was a row of mounted house-elf heads on one side of the hallway, he noticed, and tried not to shudder. Helen hadn't seemed the type of person to behead house-elves, and her children certainly didn't, but then whose house were they in?

Violet shook her head. "We only stay here for missions and meetings," she said. "Mom and Dad don't want to leave us at home."

"They think we can't take care of ourselves," Dash said, looking disgruntled, and Violet rolled her eyes.

"You don't even have a wand yet," she retorted. "He starts at Hogwarts in September," she added, and Harry blinked, glancing at Dash incredulously. They were the same height.

"You're eleven?" Harry cringed, he hadn't meant to sound so rude.

"Yep," Dash said proudly, drawing himself up to his fullest height. Violet rolled her eyes, looking embarrassed. Then something in her face seemed to close, like she had put up invisible walls.

"Our Dad's grandmother was a giant," she admitted, shrinking back and letting her hair fall over her face. Dash's smug look faded, he looked down at his shoes. Harry scratched the back of his neck, trying to think of a tactful way to respond.

Personally, he didn't think that being part giant was anything to be ashamed of. But he'd seen how people had reacted last year, when Rita Skeeter had discovered that Hagrid was a half-giant, several students and their parents had responded with fear and derision, and even Ron had been dubious for a few short minutes.

Dash and Violet were probably waiting for the same from him, and he wondered why she had told him, given how obviously ashamed they both were. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism, they didn't want to get friendly and then be rejected. Harry wondered how often that had happened, then he shrugged.

"Oh," he said. "Cool." There was a pause. "So, both of your parents are in this...order?"

"The Order of the Phoenix," Violet said promptly, a small, awestruck smile on her face at Harry's reaction, or rather his lack of one. "Professor Dumbledore's order. And yes, our mom and dad both came back."

"Came back?"

"They were in it before, Kingsley said they were the Order's best operatives," Dash said, puffing out his chest. "In the first war," he explained when Harry's only response was confusion.

"Mom is the only one going on missions for now, because Dad has his job, but they both come to meetings."

There was a strange clicking sound, like something was scuttling under the floorboards, and Harry jumped. Dash didn't seem bothered, but when Harry looked back at Violet, he saw her clothes, her shoes, and Jack-Jack, all apparently floating in midair. His mouth dropped open.

"What the-"

"Oops," he heard Violet mutter, and she reappeared, like she had stepped out from under an invisibility cloak.

"You can-what-?"

"I'm a metamorphmagus," Violet said quickly. "I can blend in with my surroundings." Harry blinked rapidly, then swallowed.

"Tonks said she could change her appearance," he eventually stammered. Violet nodded. "Can she-and your mom, she said-"

"We're all different," Violet said, cutting off his stuttering. When she continued it sounded rehearsed, either she'd been practicing or had had to explain this several times. "Tonks is the most common kind of metamorphmagus, she can change her face and hair, and some parts of her body. Mom can do faces, but not as well as Tonks. She's a different kind, she can stretch."

"I'm sorry?" Harry said, remembering the hand knocking on his door. "She can stretch?"

"Like a rubber band," Dash said, looking pleased at Harry's shock.

"And I can blend in. Look-" Violet held out her hand, which promptly disappeared. Except...now that he was really looking, Harry could just see the outline of Violet's hand, waving her fingers at him. Like Harry had earlier, it had taken the exact color and texture of the carpet beneath it. But it was far more exact than Mad-Eye's charm had been, he could only see her hand because he knew precisely where to look.

"So it's like a Disillusionment charm?" Violet nodded, smiling as her hand reappeared.

"I can kind of do faces, too, but I'm not as good as Mom. I can just do eyes, hair, and freckles."

"Eyes, hair, and freckles?"

"Yep. Just surface stuff," she said with a shrug.

"Show him," Dash demanded, looking excited. "It's so cool," he said to Harry, who looked at Violet. She glanced between them, looking shy, but eventually nodded. She looked at Jack-Jack, who seemed as eager as Dash, and dramatically screwed up her face. Harry remembered Tonks looking like she was just thinking hard, Violet looked like she was in pain, but apparently it was only for her brother's benefit.

Jack-Jack laughed as Violet's hair got shorter and lighter, and freckles popped up over her nose. When she opened her eyes they were bright blue, instead of the dark grey they had been.

She looked like Dash, Harry realized, the short blonde hair and blue eyes made their resemblance more obvious.

He was about to say so when the door Dash had initially led him to opened and Harry heard a familiar voice from inside.

"Are you-Harry!" It was Ron, and he looked completely stunned.

"Harry?" Hermione appeared in the door. "Harry!" Next second, Harry's vision was completely obscured by a wild mane of bushy brown hair.


End file.
